Crucio: Once Upon A Time
by WaningMoon
Summary: The first in a series of one-shots about Bellatrix Lestrange. Rodolphus Lestrange remembers the way things used to be, and what happened to the Bella that he fell in love with. R&R please!


**A/N: Here's the first in what I hope will be a series of one-shots about Bellatrix Lestrange, _Crucio_. Somehow I don't like the ending very much, so it went through like three revisions, but let me know what you think!**

_**Crucio: Once Upon A Time**_

_It was never always like this. Once upon a time, my Bella and I were in love. Oh, we were madly in love. Once upon a time, I would have died for her. Once upon a time, I would have done anything I could to save her._

They were both young, just out of Hogwarts.

They lay on a bed of grass, staring up at the stars. His fingers were interlaced with hers, and smiles played on both their lips as they shared their hopes for the future.

"Promise me you won't tell anyone this," Bella asked him, letting go of his hand and propping herself up onto her elbow so she looked down at him.

He smiled, reaching out to tuck strands of dark curly hair behind her ear. "I promise, Bella."

"I've always dreamed of writing for the Daily Prophet," she breathed excitedly, sharing with the love of her life a secret that no one else knew.

He sat up, looking at her. "And I've always dreamed of being Rodolphus Lestrange, the best Seeker the Falmouth Falcons ever had!"

"Oh, wouldn't it be wonderful," Bella mused, flopping back down on the grass again, "if ten years down the road, we were married and you were a Seeker and I was a reporter and we had Bellatrix Junior and Rudy junior…"

A serious look came over his face as he watched Bella, her eyes closed. "Marry me, Bella."

Her eyes flew open, chocolate brown orbs staring at him in surprise. "What?"

"Marry me. Tomorrow. No, tonight! Let's run away tonight and get married!"

Bella laughed, sitting up. She slipped a hand into his brown hair, ruffling it lovingly as she rested her forehead against his chest. Rodolphus put his arms around her, never wanting to let her go. "There's no need for all that, Rudy, you know my parents love you."

"Is that a yes, then?"

She grinned into his chest. "It's a yes."

_For a while everything was fine. We were married two years before Bella got pregnant. We hired a house elf nanny. That turned out to be our biggest mistake._

"Binky!" Bella sat up, missing her daughter. "Binky! Bring Cassie here!" She pulled her pillow up, fluffing it up behind her and leaning against it. "Binky! Binky, where are you?"

A bat ear peeped out from the side of the door, followed by a brown face with wide brown eyes that seemed wider than usual. "Y-y-y-yes, Ma'am?" she squeaked.

"Binky, I told you to bring Cassie here. Where is she?" Bella demanded, getting more and more annoyed with the house elf by the second.

The little house elf squeaked again, looking down at her hands and nervously picking at her tea cozy with her long, spindly fingers.

A curious feeling of anxiety started to creep over Bella. "Binky, if my daughter is not in my arms by the time I count to five, I swear I will not hesitate to hurt you! 5…"

As the countdown began, the house elf once again squeaked, then scurried away hurriedly.

"3…2…1!"

Just in time Binky hurried back into the room and gently pushed the baby into Bella's arms.

Bella settled back into her pillow, looking at her sleeping daughter. She was so beautiful. Bella smiled as she stroked Cassie's head, running her hand over her dark brown fuzz.

She frowned. Something was wrong. Cassie was still. Too still. And Binky was whimpering in the corner of the room, mumbling to herself.

A rush of panic washed over the new mother: Cassie wasn't breathing. _She wasn't breathing._ SHE WASN'T BREATHING.

"Why isn't she breathing?" Bella managed to scream. The poor house elf's whimpers grew louder and more frantic.

"Binky is sorry, she is! Binky didn't mean to! The baby drowned! It wasn't Binky's fault!" By now Binky was crying, big fat tears rolling down her cheeks.

Without thinking Bella drew her wand, pointed it at the house elf. A flash of green light, and the elf was no more.

-||-

Rodolphus put his arms around Bella, hugging her from the back. Her tears fell silently, and behind her, Rodolphus rested his head against her back, slowly soaking her black dress with his own tears.

Just a few hours earlier they had buried little Cassiopeia Lestrange. And still the voices from the Death Eaters drifted into the Lestranges' bedroom, Narcissa's the most prominent one as she kept them company.

"Bella," Rodolphus whispered, his voice hoarse. "We should go down."

The room lapsed into silence again. Neither of them moved.

_After that, things weren't the same with her. That was the day I lost my Bella. In her place remained Bellatrix, the woman you've heard so much about. She perfected the Cruciatus Curse and made it her trademark. She tortured. She devoted her entire life to the Dark Lord. She stopped caring for me. We stopped caring for each other. You would think she went crazy. But we both did. It was the only way we saw to move on._

_That's why I never mourned for my Bella._


End file.
